Work-guiding mechanism for sewing machines



G S. GATCHELL. WURK GUIDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22, 1917.

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esen -n s; a rena in, or ROSELLE PARK, NEW Jrrasnr; as'srsnbn 'ro 'ri-ra smear; ivia vuracrunnve corvrranr, a :o onronerion or new a WORK-GUIDING MECHANISM-FOR IMKACHINES.

Application filed October 22, 1917. Serial e. leaves.

TonaZZ whom "it qi'zay concern:

Be it lmown that l, Gnomes S. GATOHELL,

pa citizen of the United States, residing at Roselle Parlg'inthe county of Unionand State of Newdersey, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements 1n VVorl Guiding :lVIechanisms for Sewing Machines,

of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accom- ,panyingdrawings.3 Tlhis inventionrelates to sewing machines, snore particularly of, the multiple-needle cylinder-bod type adapted for joining and covering abutted knit goods, edges in one operationpas disclosed in my copendingapplication Serial No 185,446, filed April :10, 1917.

a In the. use ofasuch machines for the man;

u u'iacture of underwear from knitted fabric of the wales are strongly resistent to dei't found that seams formed lengthwise formation when subjected to lateral stress,

there being noobsei'vable tendency for the seam to open up or .grin along the center line where the cut edges are usually abutted. .i'lhe secure holding properties of such a seam formed lengthwise of the wales is usually coi'isidered 'to be due to the fact that the body-fabric material yields readily to stresses crosswise of the wales and, under these conditions,is more elastic than the seam. When, however, the seam is formed crosswise of the wales it has a tendency to grin when subjected to excessive lateral stress.

factthat the seam is more elastic laterally than the fabric; the stressin the latter case being transmitted to the scam in va directiondengthwise of the wales ofthe bodyfabric. y

The present improvement has for a particular object to provide a machine of this class with work-guiding mechanism which,"

i when it is desired to stitch crosswise of the wales of the bodyfabric, may be readily thrown into action or effective position to invention maybe mentioned the provision be readily .of an edgerguide which may thrown or shlfted from effective to ineffective position and vice versa. and which This tendency isprobably due to the i desired to abut the goods,

showing a the particularly adapted for guiding the undec of two overlapp ng pliesof material to the stitch-forming mechanism.

. A further object is to combine an. edge" guide with a trimming'mechanism so as to gulde an edge .ofone ply of materialinto underlapping relation with an upper ply. of material acted upon by said trimming mechanism. a

The lnvention, in its preferred embodi- ,said portions pass along the space between toesof the presserafoot. The present edge-guide is formed WlilllZLIl edge-guiding surface and preferably w th an overhanging work-.confining'lip and is preferably so mounted relatively to the line of seamformation that the edge-portion of an underlapping' ply of material may be guided with in the range of action of all of the needles except one. In other words, the edge-guide is so placed that the edge of the underlapping ply will extendiwell across the center line of the seam and terminate short of the:

outer row ofneedle-thread loops. -Means are provided whereby the guide may be readily thrown into action whenit is desired to lap the goods, and out of action whenit In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1

is a perspective'view oi the invention as embodied in a machine such as disclosed in iny sald copendlng application.

i Fig: 2 is a plan view of the throat-plateof themachine worlr guiding mechanism mounted thereon. Fig. 3is a side elevation of the same.) Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the guiding jmechanism and Fig.16 is cross sectional a view of a seamsuch as shown in Fig. 1.

. facilitate: thepresentation of theiknit+ goods 1 edges'in overlapping relation tothe needles,

In. the present. instance the invention is embod1ed1na machine having a cylinderbed or work-supporting arm 1 at whose free endis supported a throat-plate 2 and an the beveled inner surfaces 6 of the spacedpresser-foot toes 7 of the sole piece 8 pivoted at 9 to the shank 9 to guide the lip-turned marginal portions of material to the trinr ming mechanism 10 so that bunching of the material along the center line of seam may be largely avoided and the cut-edges pressed down, joined and covered in closely abutted but not over-crowded relation. The machine also includes the single looper 0 the covering thread-fingers 11 and the trimming chute 12 carried by the usual head 13,

all asmore fully explained in my said 00- pending application.

The edge-guidlngmechanism comprises an'edge-guiding element having preferably -a vertically disposed flattened shank 1a with an aperture through which projects the upper operative end-portion of the edge guiding element; the latter being formed with an edge-guiding surface 19 and preferably with an overhanging work-confining lip 20. The surface 19 preferably is s0 10- 'cated relatively to the line of seam that the edge of the material guided thereby will pass between the needles n and 12 but as near as feasible to the outer needle 11/. In Fig. 5 the guiding surface 19 is shown slightly to the leftof the path of the needle n, the reason being that the ridge 5 will act to draw the edge of the overlapping ply to the desired position to the right of the needle 4%, as Will be readily understood.

" ceivethe In the present instance, the guide-element is urged toward elevated or operative position by means of a curved leaf-spring 21,

one end of which is secured to the block 16 and the other end of which bears upwardly against the lateral pin 23 securedto the shank 14: of the'guide-element. The pin 22 is adapted to strike the lower side of'the guide-block 16 and limit the upward movement of the guide-element, as shown in Fig. 7 5, thus determining the effective position of the edge-guide.

The side of'the block 16 in contact with the throat-plate 2 is cut away at 23 to respringpressed' latch-lever 24 formed with a pointed latching nose, 25

which is adapted to snap over the shoulder 26, aiforded'by the beveled or notched portion 27 of the shank 1 1 of the guide-element,

I to detain the latter in depressed or inoperative' position; The forward end of the latch-lever '24 preferably extends to the exterior of the work-arm through a notch 28 The guiding mechanism may thus be used to secure the formation of the seam illustrated in Fig. 6 111 which two fabric sections a, b have their meeting edges overlapped and united by a four-needle single looper mechanism. The edge a. of the fabric sec tion a lies substantially at the center line of the seam while the edge 6 of the fabric section Z) extends well across the center line of the seam and under the fabric section a. The row 8 of needle-loops of the needle '22 extends only through the fabric section a but close to the edge I) of the fabric section Z). The row of needle-loops extends through both plies (t and Z) and the rows a and a" of needle-loops extend only through the fabric section 7. The usual covering thread or threads 0 are incorporated in the seam, at the upper side of the material while the usual looper-thrcad t is concatenated with the needle-loops at the under side of the material.

It will be seen that the entire mechanism of the work-guide, with the exception of the upper end of the guide-elcmcnt and the tip end of the latch-lever 2%, is housed within the work-arm. Consequently there are no projecting parts liable to catch the \(Ulli or interfere with its passage along the workarm. The present guide may be instantly and with certainty thrown into or out of action and the mechanism thereof is not liable to become clogged with lint and rendered ineffective. It is to be understood that the present guiding mechanism, while l!?Il'il(lllarly adapted for use in cyliudcr-bol n achines, is of general utility and may be used to advantage upon sewing machines of various types.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein. is:-

1. In a sewing machine, in combination, st1tch-formmg mechanism, presser-mechanlsni including spaced toe-portions between which upturned marginal portions of material are adapted to pass, trimming mechanism adapted to trim said marginal upturned portions of material, and an edgeguide having an edge-guiding wall disposed at one side of the center line of seam-formation in advance of said Presser-foot and adapted to guide an edge-portion of material into underlapping relation with alrupper ply of material acted upon by said trimmer.

2. In a sewing machine, in combination,

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te e7 stitch-forming mechanism including a plurality of reciprocating needles and complemental loop-taking means, presser-mechanism including spaced toe-portions between which upturned marginal portions of materialare adapted to pass, trimming mechanismfadapted to trim said upturned. marginal portions of material, and an edge-guide having an edge-guiding wall disposed at one side of the center line of seam-formation in advance of said prcsser-foot andeadapted to guide an edge portion of material into underlapping relation with an upper ply of material acted upon by said trimmer, said edge-guide also having an overhanging work-confining li and being depressible to inoperative position. a

3. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism including a plurality of reciprocating needles and complemental loop-taking means, presser-meohanism including spaced toe-portions between which upturned marginal portions of material are adapted to pass, trimming mecha- .nism adapted to trim said marginal upturned portlons of lmaterial, and an edge,

guide having an edge-guiding wall disposed at one side of the center line of seamformation in advance of said presser-foot and adapted to guide an edge-portion of material into underlapping relationwith an upper ply of. material acted upon by said trimmer, said edge-guide also having an overhanging work-confining lip and being depressible to inoperative position, and means for retaining said edge-guide in depressed or inoperative position,

4. A sewing machine having in combination a frame includinga work-supporting arm, stitch-formin mechanism including a reciprocating need e operating at the free end of said work-supporting arm, an edgeguide mounted on said arm in advance of said needle, means for moving said edgeguide to operative position, and manually controlled means for detaining said edgeguide in inoperative position.

5. A sewing machine having in combination a frame including a tubular work-supporting arm, stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle operating at the free end of said work-supporting arm,

v an edge-guide mounted on said arm in ad- Vance of said needle, means for moving said edge-guide to elevated position, and manually controlled means for detaining said edge-guide in depressed position, said means being disposed mainly within said workarm and including a finger-piece having an accessible portion at the exterior of said work-arm.

6. A sewing machine having in combination a frame including a tubular work-supporting arm, stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle operating at the free end ofisaid woi'lcsupporting arm, an upwardly spring-pressed. edge-guide mounted onsaid arm in advance of said guidein depressed position said latch being disposed mainly within said work-arm and including a finger-piece accessible at the exterior of said work-ari'n.

bination, a frame formed with a work-arm includingan elongated throatrplate disposed at the free end of said work-arm, stitchforming mechanism including a reciprocating needle operating through an aperture in said throat-plate, and an edge-guide sustained by saidthroatplate for movement from inoperative or depressed position to operative or elevated osition and vice versa.

8. A. sewing machine comprising, in com-. blnttlOll, a frame formed with a work-arm including an elongated throat-plate disposed at thefree end. of said worlcarm, stitch- ,forming mechanism including a reciprocatneedle, and a latch for detaining said edgeo 7.. A sewing machine comprising, incom-f controlled means for detaining said edgeguide in inoperative position.

9, Work-guiding mechanism for sewing machines comprising a work support, a rigidlyheld guide-element vertically movable in said support from operative to inoperative position and vice versa, a spring urging said guide-element toward one of said pos1-8 tions, and a latch fordetaining said guideelement 1n the other of said positlons.

10. Work -guiding mechanism for sewing machines comprising a support, a guiding element sustained by said support in advance of the stitching point and movable within the same, a spring urging said guiding element toward operatlve position, and a manually controlled latch-lever mounted on said support and adapted to detain said guiding element in inoperative position.

11. W'ork-guiding mechanism for sewing machines comprising an apertured throat plate, a block mounted at the under side of said throat-plate, a work-guide slidably mounted on said block and having an operative work-guiding portion projecting through said aperture and extending in the direction of feed, and depressible means for elevating said work-guide to operative position. i

12. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, trimming mechanism, means for feeding upturned edge portions of material to said tri mming mechanism, and means movable at will into the path of one of said portions for guiding the the finished mechanism to prevent trimming thereof.

14. In a' sewing machine, stitch-forming mechanism, trimming mechanism, means for feeding upturned edge portions of material to said trimming mechanism, and means disposed at one side of the center line of seam formation for guiding one of said edge portions into underlapping relation to the other and out of cooperative relation with the trimming mechanism, said guiding means being; movable into and outof operative position.

15. ork-guiding mechanism for-sewing machines comprising a work support, a movable guide carried by said support, a spring for moving said guide into operative position, a shoulder on said guide, and a springpressed latch mounted within and operable exteriorly of said support adapted to engage said shoulder to hold said guide in inoperative position.

16. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, trimming mechanism, means for guiding two marginal portions of material to the trimming mechanism I and then to the stitch-forming mechanism in abutting relation, and means movable from an ineffective to an effective position and adapted when in the efl'ective position to prevent the guiding ojl one portion of material to the trimming mechanism. and to cause the guiding oi the two portions to the stitch forming mechanism in overlapping relation.

17. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, trimming mechanism, means adapted to guide two marginal portions of material to the trimming mechanism and then to the stitch-forming mechanism in abutting relation, and means movable at will from ineffective to etlectire position to guide one portion away from the trimming mechanism to prevent trimming thereof and to direct said portion into lapped relation with the other portion.

18. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, trimming mechanism, means for guiding two marginal portions of material to the trimming mechanism and then to the stitch-forming mechanism in abutting relation, and means in advance of the trimming mechanism movable from an ineli'ective to effective position at will for guiding one portion away from the trimming mechanism.

19. In a sewing machine, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism con'iprising a plurality of needles, substantially horizontally acting trimming mechanism located in advance of the needles, means adapted to guide two upturned marginal portions of material to the trimming mechanism and a guide movable from ineffective to effective position to direct one marginal portion of material beneath the trimming mechanisn'i and into underlapping relation to the trimmed port-ion.

In testimonv whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE S. GATCHELL. 

